LIV Golf Virginia: Bryson DeChambeau, Martin Kaymer leading after Round 1

GAINESVILLE, Va. — A 107-minute weather delay late Friday afternoon was the perfect jumpstart to Bryson DeChambeaus opening round at LIV Golf Virginia.

The Crushers GC captain’s first shot after the resumption of play at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club was a chip-in for eagle at the par-5 14th. He followed with a birdie at the 15th and then chipped in again for birdie at the 16th en route to a 5-under 66 and a share of the lead with Cleeks Golf Club Captain Martin Kaymer.

“You come back from a rain delay and usually think you’re going to try and slowly get into a flow,” said DeChambeau, who was 1 under and tied for 18th when play was suspended. “I came out hot.”

DeChambeau has been hot all season, with a win at LIV Golf’s most recent event in Korea, and top-5 finishes in each of his last five starts, including the season’s first two majors. He’s looking to maintain that form heading into next week’s title defense at the U.S. Open.

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Kaymer, meanwhile, has been seeking a competitive form for most of this season, with five of his seven results outside the top 40. But he was solid all day Friday while grabbing a share of the lead for the first time after any LIV Golf round since last year’s opening round in Houston. He hit 50% of his fairways, which tied for 10th best in the field at a challenging driving course, and he tied for the field best in putting average.

“I know I’m good enough,” said the two-time major winner, who had two separate streaks of three consecutive birdies Friday. “I know I can play good golf. I’ve proven many, many times in my career. But you need to continue hitting fairways, and that was the downside for me the past few months. I was missing so many fairways. Today, the game is there.”

The game was certainly there for Ollie Schniederjans in a spectacular performance as a reserve player for RangeGoats GC.

RangeGoats starter Matthew Wolff was forced to withdraw with an injury after playing his first eight holes at even par. Schniederjans immediately took his spot to finish the round. His first hole was a birdie at the 18th, and he added two more birdies and an eagle in his final nine holes.

The Wolff/Schniederjans score only counts for the team, but the 67 was the RangeGoats’ best score as they grabbed a two-shot lead in the team competition at 9 under. Captain Bubba Watson and teammate Peter Uihlein pitched in with 68s, while Ben Campbell shot 72 in his first start after missing Korea with a wrist injury.

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Chasing the leaders are six players tied at 4 under: captains Jon Rahm (Legion XIII), Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC) and Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers GC), along with Smash GC’s Graeme McDowell, Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman and Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri.

“I think I should be pleased with how comfortable and how well I played today,” said Rahm, the reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion.

Mickelson shot his lowest opening round relative to par in his last 16 LIV Golf starts as he continues to enjoy his best form since joining the league as an original member. “I’m having a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s really fun. I’m starting to play well.”

McDowell produced one of just two bogey-free rounds on the day. “Solid day,” he said. “I’ve been working pretty hard on my game the last few weeks. I’ve really been feeling it trending in the right direction.”

Few players are trending better than DeChambeau, who acknowledged that his hot finish was helped by the softer conditions after the resumption of play.

“That little chip shot became a helluva lot easier for me,” he said of his eagle. “I was studying it before I left. It was like, this looks perfect. Came out, still looks perfect. Hit it exactly where I wanted it to land, and it went right in the frickin’ hole.”

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores now counting in every round in the team competition. Here are the results and scores for each team after Friday’s Round 1 of LIV Golf Virginia.

1. RANGEGOATS GC -9 (Wolff/Schniederjans 67, Watson 68, Uihlein 68, Campbell 72)
T2. CRUSHERS GC -7 (DeChambeau 66, Lahiri 67, Howell III 71, Casey 73)
T2. 4ACES GC -7 (Pieters 68, Reed 68, Johnson 69, Varner III 72)
4. SMASH GC -6 (McDowell 67, Gooch 70, Kokrak 70, Koepka 71)
5. TORQUE GC -3 (Niemann 67, Muñoz 70, Ortiz 71, Pereira 73)
6. CLEEKS GC -1 (Kaymer 66, Meronk 71, Kjettrup 72, Bland 74)
7. STINGER GC E (Burmester 70, Schwartzel 70, Grace 72, Oosthuizen 72)
8. IRON HEADS GC +1 (Lee 69, Jang 70, Kozuma 71, Na 75)
T9. RIPPER GC +3 (Leishman 67, Smith 70, Herbert 75, Jones 75)
T9. LEGION XIII +3 (Rahm 67, Hatton 72, McKibbin 73, Surratt 75)
11. HYFLYERS GC +4 (Mickelson 67, Tringale 70, Steele 72, Ogletree 79)
12. FIREBALLS GC +5 (Ancer 69, Masaveu 71, Ballester 74, Garcia 75)
13. MAJESTICKS GC +12 (Westwood 70, Horsfield 73, Poulter 75, Stenson 78)
Wild Cards: Kim 73, C. Lee 75

This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.

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